Published: April 1, 2014
Selig reminisces on past Opening Day games
MLB commissioner to retire in January
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
MILWAUKEE — Bud Selig, Major League Baseball’s commissioner,
loves Opening Day. But with this being his last associated with baseball in
some way, he insisted it was not any more special than the previous ones.
“Opening Day is a very special day, always,” he said during
the Milwaukee Brewers’ game Monday against the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park.
“We’ve really had some great Opening Days here.”
This one is special. There is no way to sugar coat it.
Selig will retire as MLB’s commissioner in January. It’s a
position he’s held full time since 1998. From 1992-97, he was the acting
commissioner.
Before that, he was owner of the Brewers after he bought the
Seattle Pilots in 1970.
He’s already gotten some requests from league owners to
reconsider retirement. While honored to have the owners think highly of him
enough to stick around, he remained stern on his decision.
“I meant what I said last October,” Selig said.
He did reveal his favorite Opening Day story.
It was 1980 and the Brewers were tied with the Boston Red
Sox in the ninth inning at Milwaukee County Stadium. Milwaukee’s Sixto Lezcano
hit a grand slam off Boston reliever Dick Drago to win the game 9-5.
Lezcano also hit a two-run home run off Dennis Eckersley in
that game.
“There was just something about that game I’ll always
remember,” Selig said.
He started in baseball in 1964, which is a reason why he
believes it is time to walk away.
“That’s 50 years ago,” Selig said. “In life, there’s a time
to come, but there’s also a time to go. I’m proud of what’s going on and what’s
happening in baseball.”
During his tenure as the commissioner, he has changed the
game with ideas such as the introduction of the wild card and interleague play.
He was also instrumental in organizing the World Baseball
Classic in 2006, introducing revenue sharing, and is credited for the financial
turnaround of baseball during his tenure with a 400 percent increase in the
revenue of MLB and annual record-breaking attendance.
While he’s also fielded harsh criticism for how the game of
baseball became clouded in performance-enhancing drug controversy, Selig led
Major League Baseball into a new era of drug testing. He said the World
Anti-Doping Agency called MLB’s drug testing procedures and punishment, which
recently got a boost in toughness, the best in the United States.
For the Brewers to be playing the Braves on Opening Day had
historical significance too. The last time the Braves played in Milwaukee on
Opening Day was in 1965, the last season the Braves were in Milwaukee before
moving to Atlanta.
That day is still fresh in Selig’s memory.
“We played the Cubs,” he recalled. “It was a tense and tough
atmosphere. But we did all right.”
He also still remembered the last home game of that season.
The Braves lost to the Dodgers, 7-6.
“I’ll never forget the picture of Hank Aaron and Eddie
Mathews going up the tunnel for the last time,” Selig said.
That was the start of a five-year period when Selig didn’t
know if baseball would ever return to Milwaukee, but knew he wanted it to come
back.
“The odds were really stacked against us,” Selig said.
“Baseball didn’t want to come back here. Milwaukee County had sued them. The
state of Wisconsin had sued them. It was pretty tense.”
Selig said he knew baseball had a chance of coming back when
the Chicago White Sox played a game at County Stadium in 1967, which everyone
told him not to do.
“We drew 51,144 people,” Selig said.
It was March 31, 1970, at 10:15 p.m. when the Seattle Pilots
became the Milwaukee Brewers.
“That’ll always be my proudest accomplishment,” Selig said.
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